> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pgxman.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Using extensions

After installation, in order to use an extension, you typically need to do two things:

* Restart Postgres if on Linux
* Use `CREATE EXTENSION` in the Postgres database of your choice

On MacOS, pgxman's container support will automatically restart the container
as needed.

## Restart Postgres (Linux only)

Postgres cannot detect newly installed extensions until it is restarted. The common way
to restart Postgres is:

```sh theme={null}
sudo service postgresql restart
```

## Load into a database

First, connect to the database you wish to use, using `psql` or a Postgres client of your
choice.

Then, most extensions can be loaded using:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE EXTENSION extension_name;
```

<Note>The name of the extension may be different than the pgxman package name. To view the
list of extensions you have installed, use the query `SELECT * FROM pg_available_extensions;`</Note>

Some extensions use `LOAD` or require other configuration. Check the documentation on
[pgxman.com](https://pgxman.com) for more information.